Gender. In English, living things are classed as male or female, and things without life as neuter, or sexless. In the same way, words are said to belong to the masculine, the feminine, or the neuter gender. Neuter and gender are derived from Latin words meaning neither and kind. The word animal may represent either a male or female creature. Such words are said to be of common gender. These four classifications cover all nouns and pronouns, and explain all the English genders.